Intraperitoneal transplantation of isologous mesothelial cells for prevention of adhesions

Objective: To study the effect of transplantation of mesothelial cells on t he formation of adhesions after peritoneal abrasion. Design: Animal study. Setting: Teaching hospital, Germany. Animals: 30 isologous eight-week old Lewis rats to allow for harvesting of the greater omentum from a separate group. Interventions: The first group (n = 10) served as mesothelial cell donors. The other animals had laparotomy and induction of adhesions by standardised abrasion of the peritoneum. The trial group (n = 10) were given a suspensi on of 10(6) mesothelial cells/ 100g body weight intraperitoneally and the c ontrol group (n = 10) an equal volume of culture medium. After 10 days the animals were killed. Main outcome measures: Measurements of the areas of adhesions by computer a ided morphometry. Results: The trial group developed a mean (SD) adhesion area of 122.7 (176. 7) mm(2), and the controls 310.5 (179.1) mm(2). The corresponding medians ( range) were 51.2 (0-547.1) and 274.3 (100.6-575.4). Transplantation of meso thelial cells resulted in a significant reduction in adhesion formation (Wi lcoxon test, p < 0.01). Conclusion: Intraperitoneal transplantation of mesothelial cells is an effe ctive way of reducing the formation of adhesions.